This is just a rant (hopefully it will be regarded as pertinent and non-'laming') on why Windows users try Linux and return frustrated to Windows after several hours or days. I won't praise Linux and the way it works, I won't even compare and say 'here Linux is easier because ...', instead I have a few questions for all of you who blame Linux for not being and behaving like Windows.

Many users of GNU/Linux these days, think that projects like Gnash are stupid, when you can get the original Flashplayer. Those are the same people that think you’re stupid if you don’t want to use the mp3-format, or install support for the windows-media format. This isn’t true only on brainstorm of course, but also in the overall community.

Linux users have always vocally encouraged major hardware vendors to unbundle the Windows operating system or offer Linux preinstallation. Although several prominent vendors are beginning to embrace this concept, they only support it on a limited subset of their hardware offerings.

As MP3 players and mobile devices become very common, more and more people are beginning to convert their audio CD collection to music files so they will listen to them while on the move. In Windows and Mac, the conversion can be done automatically with Windows Media Player or iTunes. What about Linux? Let’s take a look.

Though most people think of KDE as a desktop environment for Linux, the KDE applications are actually also available on Windows, thanks to the KDE On Windows project. In addition to giving Windows users a bunch of useful applications, this would be an ideal intermediate step for large Windows to Linux migrations.

t's funny how some people are so stuck on the idea that Windows, and only Windows, is the one true operating system that they can't even hear their own words. That's the case with a recent news story with the headline, "Windows XP Will Fill Two-Thirds of Asustek Eee PCs." (This article will only be online until April 13.) OK, I know almost none of you are journalists, but what's wrong with that headline? That's right. You didn't need to do paste-up classified ads for your high school newspaper to figure out that the news here is that Linux will be running on a third of Asustek's Eee PCs.

10 days ago the Linux Loop blog had a post titled “Linux Eee PC Far Faster Than Windows Version”. I’m sure many Linux users nodded and had assumed as much. The author compared the times of three tasks: boot up, loading Firefox, and shutting down. That’s hardly a comprehensive set of tests. Some people commented to dismiss these metrics as “meaningless”.

For years now, Linux has been known primarily only to people in technology fields. While average home users may have heard of it, it is still surrounded in a cloud of mystery for the majority of people. When people think alternatives to the Windows operating system, they usually think of Apple's Mac OSX, but is it time to take a look at Linux?

Among the three major operating systems, you may know that Linux has the lowest market share on the desktop but is leading the server market. However, Linux on the desktop is slowly but surely going mainstream that's enough to scare the crap out of Microsoft.